SEPT/OCT
2004
Volume 47/Issue 5
IN
THIS ISSUE
Project
Articles
•
Living Room Sofa Table
• Nob Hill Cable Car
• Two-Shelf Telephone Stand/Side Table
DEPARTMENTS
•
Ask Smitty
• Owner’s Gallery
• Letters from Owners
•
New Baby Workshop Calendar
Academy Notes
Hardwood
Information You Should Know - Pt 2
Service Pointers
Disc
Sander
Woodworking
Technologies
Stepped
Dowels
Safety
Safety Lessons I've Learned
What's
New
Referral
Rewards Program
EDUCATION
• Find
A Shopsmith Woodworking Academy Near You
•
National
Woodworking Academy in Dayton, OH
ONLINE
CATALOGS
• Online Accessory Catalog
•
Request
Printed Accessory Catalog
• Online
Replacement Parts Catalog
MARK
V INFORMATION
•
Find
A Shopsmith
MARK V Demo Near You
•
Request
MARK V Information Package
LINKS
•
Links Worth Visiting
•
Free Woodworking
Tips
FEEDBACK
Contacting
Shopsmith
Copyright
2004.
Shopsmith, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Real
Letters from
Shopsmith Power Tool Owners
Gene Jones
of Beech Island, SC writes...
“I had
been doing a little woodworking since I retired (a couple of years ago)...mostly
just piddling around. Then a friend of mine purchased a 150-year-old home
in Georgia with plans to remodel it and make it as original as they could.
You can imagine how the spindles and cornerposts of a staircase were designed
150 years ago. You can't find anything, anywhere in the World that will
match it...and my friend wanted to remove the wall on one side of the
staircase and make that side just like the side that was there originally.
He asked me to look at it and see if I thought I could make them for him.
I told him that I could...if I had a wood lathe. So, I started looking around to see if I could find a lathe that I could borrow for the job. Then, a neighbor told me that he knew a guy with an old wood lathe that he may let me use. So, I called and went for a visit. We went out to his old barn where he told me that he hadn't used it in over 15 years. We dug it out of the barn and after we got all the cobwebs and dirt-dobber nests off of it...lo and behold...it was a Shopsmith!
We plugged it in and turned it on...and it worked! So, I loaded it into my truck. I was so excited that he had a Shopsmith because I had heard a lot about Shopsmith equipment and had been to a couple of Shopsmith demonstrations. To think that he had this fine old machine...and that he was willing to let me take it and use it to try and make these pieces for my friend!
I took it home, cleaned it up and lubricated it until I got everything working real smooth. Then I bought the wood I'd need and started on the project. Needless to say, when I had finished, my friend was tickled to death with the way his staircase turned out...just as I was pleased with the work I had done for him. It was time for me to (reluctantly) take the Shopsmith back to the guy I had borrowed it from. I practically begged him to sell it to me because I actually loved that machine and had really enjoyed making those pieces. However, he wouldn't even talk about selling it...and really, I don't blame him because I had cleaned it up so good, it looked like a brand new machine and still worked as good as a new one.
After this experience, I started looking for a lathe for myself -- not necessarily a Shopsmith, because I really didn't think that I could afford one. Then, the very next week, I saw an ad in the paper that said SAW FOR SALE. I called the number and talked to the man, who told me that his machine would really serve as several different shop tools. When I asked him what brand it was, he told me that it was a Shopsmith. So, I went to take a look, and bought it on the spot. It was a MARK V with Bandsaw, Sander and al of the accessories.
I've been busy ever since...I just enjoy making anything out of wood with my Shopsmith, it's so much fun to use. I may not be the best at making things out of wood, but I'll bet you one thing....no one has been any busier or made as many different things and enjoyed it any more than I have since I got my Shopsmith! ”
